Public Support for Body-worn Cameras and Filming of Police: An Experimental Approach

• In Event: Attitudes About Police Body-Worn Cameras

Abstract

The recent upsurge in citizens filming encounters with police has sparked national conversations and protests regarding police behavior and treatment of minority citizens, in particular. To address these concerns there have been increased calls for police accountability from citizens and the government alike, leading to many departments adopting body-worn cameras (BWCs) and citizens filming the police as a means to increase accountability. Much of the current research on BWCs focuses on officer perceptions, departmental implementation, and encounter outcomes. Likewise, much of the research on citizen’s filming the police focuses on the legal issues surrounding the practice. Missing from the conversation is what effect viewing these shared videos of police-citizen encounters has on citizen support for video surveillance of and by the police. This study seeks to address this knowledge gap through experimental methodology. Using actual footage of a variety of police-citizen encounters, this study examines the impact of viewing videos of police encounters on individuals’ support for officer body-worn cameras and their willingness to film the police. The findings indicate the impact of viewing police-citizen encounters are primarily linked to the content of the video. Implications for both research and policy will be presented.

Author

• Megan M Parry, University of Rhode Island